CALIFORNIA | BRIEFLY: CHEMICALS

Huntsman Buying 4 ICI Businesses

Huntsman Corp. is buying four chemical businesses from Imperial Chemical Industries of London for about $2.8 billion. In the deal, Huntsman will buy ICI's polyurethanes, titanium dioxide, aromatics and petrochemical operations. Huntsman, which is North America's largest privately held chemical company, also gets exclusive rights to the future purchase of ICI's $800-million acrylics business. The deal, Huntsman's largest ever, makes it one of America's largest petrochemical companies, behind DuPont Co. and Dow Chemical Co. It increases the Salt Lake City-based company's revenue from $4 billion to $7.5 billion a year and gives it access to more than a dozen countries. "This acquisition nearly doubles the size of our current business and substantially increases our overall global presence, particularly in Europe," company Chairman and Chief Executive Jon M. Huntsman said in a release. The agreement is subject to approval by the Federal Trade Commission, but no problems are foreseen and it is expected to be completed this summer, said a Huntsman spokesman.